King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals KFUPM hosted their ninth Design Expo on Saturday

The King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, or KFUPM, held its ninth Design Expo on Saturday under a clear blue sky with a cold wind. The buildings are coloured sandy. In 131 teams, almost 600 seniors who are graduating this semester showcased their prototypes and ideas that they have been working on for the past two semesters. The goal of the exhibition was to showcase student answers to actual business issues.

Mohammed Al-Saggaf, the university president, visited each booth and heard students describe their work. He underlined the need for showing rather than merely telling. He desired for the children to feel encouraged, acknowledged, and honoured since the projects at the expo represented innovation and teamwork in the future.

The institution, which was founded in 1963 and has historically been exclusively male, let women to register for the first time in the 2021–2022 academic year. The university also recently began permitting interdisciplinary cooperation at the expo, enabling students to collaborate in groups across majors in a manner that mirrored industry norms—many of whom would later find employment and be expected to work in teams.

According to Al-Saggaf, this new arrangement would encourage cooperation between students majoring in various subjects and enable them to draw on one another's experience and knowledge. For instance, a student studying computer science and a petroleum engineer may work together to use artificial intelligence to address drilling issues, while a student studying marketing could assist his team as a whole in developing a successful business plan.